The environmental sustainability of the biogas pathway in Italy: the CREA study on the "Journal of Cleaner Production"
Published on "Journal of Cleaner Production" the study carried out by the researchers of CREA-Research Centre for Agricultural Policies and Bioeconomy, which analyzes the environmental sustainability of the biogas pathway in Italy through the methodology of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP).
Biogas production and use can represent a win-win strategy providing multiple opportunities to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, while offering a range of important social, environmental and economic benefits. Nevertheless, as for other bioenergy pathways, biogas sustainability needs to be carefully assessed and continuously monitored in light of the specific geographic and temporal context in which it performs.
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review on the sustainability assessment of domestic production and use of biogas in Italy, with a focus on the environmental dimension of the sustainability. Furthermore, it elaborates the results of the review to perform an ex-novo sustainability assessment of biogas pathway at national level, through the methodology developed by the GBEP.
The outcomes of this study could inform, both at national and international scale, the drawing of tailor- made policies and measures to reduce biogas-related potential risks of environmental impacts, as well as to support the replication and scaling up of successful management practices. Furthermore, they could serve as a baseline for the future monitoring of the sector.
The paper can be download here.